So Close, No Matter How Far

We live in the so called “jet age.” Here a place is a plane ticket away, any object we desire is just a card swipe away; people are just a push of a button away. It seems money has demolished physical distances and built up emotional ones.

The more the means of means to communicate have multiplied, the more the reasons to communicate have gone, or seem less important. The blame for being out of touch has shifted from the mail-man to the service providers – Hutch, Airtel and whatnot.

Remember those days (or at least as you saw in the old black and white films) where a mailman’s visit was as awaited as Santa Claus.

Just a few years ago, in school perhaps, we used to use the landlines to call up friends with whom we, possibly, had just spent the whole day with. There was always some reason – a new titbit to give, gossip to catch up on etc.

In college, it was e-mail and Yahoo and MSN. And we sent cards, letters, and small useless mails just to keep in touch. Wasn’t that the sign-offline most of you used – “Keep in touch…” The landlines had taken a back seat.

Then, of course, communication came to our pockets in the form of cell phones – the world was never any smaller. And the mails and insta-messaging became more of a pastime.

And now, the online communities spread like wildfire burning up our need for the landline, the mails, the IMs, and sometimes even the cell phone. Our world is Orkut.

When we have all the simple ways and means to stay in touch, how much do we actually bother? We always find reasons not to get in touch with someone. Sure we have them on our contacts, have added them as friends, put them in our address books and all over the place, but more often than not they are just a measure of your popularity.

There seem to be a lack very pressing enough reason to talk to friends. When was the last time you called your best bud from college? Those titbits and bits of gossip are not important enough anymore. Are they?

18 comments:

Scout said...

i disagree with the last line. if u are good enuf friends, you will keep in touch no matter what the form of communication.
but i do agree that with the overdose of means of communication, the reasons to get in touch have got lost somewhere... which might not entirely be a bad thing!

Ace of Spades said...

scout, agree that the loss of reasons to stay in touch might not be all that bad ...

Prisni said...

Mobile phones all the advanced technology are also means of keeping in touch....we still keep the friends that matter the most.
Simplicity and the beauty of that simplicity ,I agree, has creapt out of our lives...

Ace of Spades said...

alas! i am outvoted already. anyway, i for one dont know many of my childhood friends. do you guys? still have penpals?

Scout said...

orkut sure has reunited me with many-a childhood pals..

ghetufool said...

wonderful poits you have raised ace! i am impressed.

and you drove home the point even better. oh yes, i agree to disagree with scout.

Ace of Spades said...

thanks ghetu. i was begining to think that i was alone. so now its two vs two.

Prisni said...

I wonder does anyone grow out of a friendship here....?
Doesn't everyone over here treasure a few really meaningful friends or are we going to retain the whole gamut of friends we have had.

ghetufool said...

that's because we are not girls ace.

Shuv said...

i dont agree with u either ace..technology has helped me a lot in keeping in touch with not only friends, but also relatives, whom otherwise i probably wouldnt have gone to the trouble of writing letters to..

Scout said...

ace, you sure are a fine one for not liking technology :) if you know what i mean... for shame!

Ace of Spades said...

@prisni: the point is we retain freinds for retentions sake, not for friendships sake

@ghetu: good point

@shuv: relatives are different. i was talking specifically about friends like in my reply to prisni

@scout: grrrrr....

Prisni said...

Hi Ace,

Retaining for retenion sake!..maybe i don't get that.
And who is we?

CruciFire said...

Hey nice post sav.. tho i partially disagree with u as evr1 else who has commented before me.. i completely understand what u mean whn u refer to those coffee-outings that people used to have earlier... thats the reason why i feel hang-out places like CCD and Mocha have becum kinda importnt as they provide the kind of chilled atmosphere u need whn ur out with frnds... parting shot for evr1 else - with all these new technologies u cud say feel connected to every1 but the qustion is R U REALLY CONNECTED? damn, i gotta write a whole post n this i guess...!

Anonymous said...

..dear friends..isn't it ironical that more and more we get 'connected' by technology..
...at the same time..more and more people go on suffering from lonliness all over the world..?

i cant help but agree with ace on this one...
..r we really in 'touch' with each other..?..or..r all these electronic connectivity a blessing bcoz we r simply scared to let others come closer to ourselves..?

..what r we scared of..?

ghetufool said...

naya kuch likhre gaandu.

Anon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anon said...

Do we really need a reason to stay in touch or talk to our friends? Why mourn for something which doesn't have to exist in the first place?
All I can say is when someone matters, distance or technology don't.